The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for distributing warning alerts, e.g., severe weather condition alerts. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for notifying the public of severe weather conditions.
Communities throughout our nation have suffered from various severe weather conditions, which may arise from time to time. These severe weather conditions typically include thunderstorms, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, winter weather, tsunamis, fire, and other climatic events. Additionally, hazardous conditions such as seismic, nuclear, chemical, or gaseous spill, or otherwise, have also threatened large populations of people, wildlife, and property alike. Our nation""s ability to track and warn the general public has helped to minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters.
Federal and state agencies have funded various organizations to track our weather both domestically and abroad. As such, the U.S. Government, through the Department of Commerce has established the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to chart the oceans, the atmosphere and to warn of dangerous weather conditions. NOAA comprises several national service organizations, including the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), amongst other national service organizations. Each national service organization provides various functions including research, monitoring, data collection, analysis, and information dissemination, under the direction and coordination of NOAA.
The National Weather Service is the official United States communications means for issuing warnings during life-threatening weather conditions. The function of the NWS is evidenced in its mission statement xe2x80x9cto provide weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy. NWS data and products form a national information database and infrastructure which can be used by other governmental agencies, the private sector, the public, and the global community.xe2x80x9d
The U.S. climatic conditions are tracked by the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, which includes satellite operations. Satellites are a primary means to monitor weather patterns. One such satellite is a geostationary operational environmental satellite (GOES), which remains stationary over the continental U.S. to provide pictures of clouds, and gather other climatic information. The NWS utilizes the images and information gathered through the satellites to monitor for severe weather conditions. These pictures, plus other data are compiled by the NWS for analysis and issuance of warnings, as required. In an instance where severe weather conditions are observed, the NWS disseminates the climatic information through the Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN). The EMWIN has been established to provide the emergency management community with access to a set of NWS warnings, watches, forecasts, and other products. The EMWIN broadcasts the information to the governmental, private sector and public entities. Thus, a general warning is sent out across specific mediums, and spectrums of bandwidth. Methods of disseminating climatic information include radio broadcast on VHF and UHF bands, postings on the Internet, and facsimile transmission to requesting entities. Additionally, EMWIN broadcasts may also be implemented via the GOES satellites. Satellite broadcasting is nationwide, and accessible by state and local entities to disseminate the data stream after receiving the downlink.
Although such broad regional broadcasts are very helpful, these broadcasted warnings are not locally focused or directed. Namely, the broadcast warnings issued by the NWS contain broad regional warnings that may affect numerous local communities or counties, ranging up to hundreds of miles. Such large regional broadcasting causes a local population to become complacent over time, due to reception of a high number of warnings, that in practice, may only affect a much smaller area than the broad region directed by the NWS broadcasts.
For example, over time, a population in xe2x80x9ctornado alleyxe2x80x9d (a large area in the middle of the United States) may become complacent over receiving a tornado watch warning, since so many of such warnings are issued during the course of a tornado season. Thus, such complacency have caused many people to suffer from weather related injury, not because of a lack of warning, rather from not heeding to such warnings due to many overly broad xe2x80x9cfalsexe2x80x9d warnings. Such shortcomings are particularly detrimental where weather patterns change abruptly, as in the instances of tornadoes and thunderstorms, which may suddenly affect a very small area within a much larger broadcasting region.
Additionally, the reaction time to provide a localized warning to a targeted region may be extremely short. For example, if a tornado has suddenly xe2x80x9ctouched downxe2x80x9d, there is very little time to distribute the heightened severe weather condition to a large group of affected individuals on a personal basis, i.e., having a long list of telephone numbers to call. Given the small reaction time, a large group of affected individuals must be notified quickly with sufficient time to react to a particular hazardous condition.
Thus, there is a need to provide a local warning system that will quickly notify a group of individuals within an affected area of severe weather conditions, on a current and personalized basis.
The disadvantages heretofore associated with the prior art are overcome by the present invention of a method and apparatus of an alert system for notifying subscribers of weather or hazardous conditions. A weather-tracking source or service broadcasts weather or hazardous conditions across the nation to alert the general public of potentially dangerous climatic and hazardous conditions that may arise from time to time. In one embodiment, a weather service provider receives the weather condition broadcasts from the weather-tracking source or service and transmits weather or hazardous condition signals to identified subscribers having an alert unit. The alert unit is a passive device capable of receiving and warning the identified subscribers of the weather or hazardous condition broadcasts.
The passive alert unit utilizes various warning devices that provide visual and/or audible sensory signals, such as a strobe light and a piezoelectric horn. In one embodiment, the passive alert unit will only activate when a monitored hazardous condition has reached a level that a subscriber has indicated that he or she needs to be notified. Namely, subscribers that are more risk adverse will be notified immediate upon detection of even minor weather conditions, whereas subscribers that are more risk tolerant will be notified only upon detection of more severe weather conditions as specified by the subscribers. Thus, the present inventive system averts the subscriber from becoming complacent from receiving numerous non-relevant warnings, by providing very localized and personalized warnings. In this manner, a subscriber is personally warned of a severe weather or hazardous condition that is localized and categorized for that particular subscriber, thereby allowing the subscriber to take the precautionary steps.
Additionally, the subscriber alert units are notified via a wireless broadcast. In one embodiment, the wireless broadcast is implemented by using xe2x80x9cregion-basedxe2x80x9d paging. Namely, a small number of paging numbers are assigned geographically, where upon sending a warning signal via one paging number will effect notification of a large number of the subscriber alert units within the region defined for that particular paging number. This communication architecture allows cost effective and rapid notification of a large group of subscribers of rapidly changing weather condition, thereby providing the subscriber with sufficient time to take the necessary precautionary steps.